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X-WR-CALDESC:Events for Ashoka University
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DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T131000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T150000
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UID:74487-1742303400-1742310000@www.ashoka.edu.in
SUMMARY:Retrieval in the Time of Reasoning Or How to Get ChatGPT to Do What You Want - by Manik Varma
DESCRIPTION:  \n\n \nColloquium announcement\n"Retrieval in the Time of Reasoning\nOr\nHow to Get ChatGPT to Do What You Want"\nby Manik Varma \n \nDistinguished Scientist and Vice President Microsoft Research India \nManik Varma is a Distinguished Scientist and Vice President at Microsoft Research India and an Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He is best known for having started the research area of extreme classification in large-scale machine learning. Manik’s algorithms have made billions of predictions a day\, have generated billions of dollars in revenue for businesses worldwide and have improved the productivity and experience of people in over a hundred and ninety countries. Manik is also known for his research on developing tiny classifiers that can fit within 2–16 KB of RAM and run on microcontrollers smaller than a grain of rice. His classifiers have been deployed on hundreds of millions of devices and have protected them from viruses and malware. Manik has served as an Associate Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis & Machine Intelligence as well as a senior area chair at most of the premiere conferences in machine learning\, artificial intelligence and computer vision. He is a Fellow of the Indian academies of science (IASc\, INSA & NASI)\, the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He is a recipient of the Bhatnagar Prize\, has been a Visiting Miller Professor at the University of California at Berkeley and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. Abstract: \nLarge Language Models (LLMs)\, such as GPT4 and O1\, have delivered game-changing reasoning and synthesis capabilities leading pundits to proclaim that we have entered a new age of LLM reasoning. Yet\, LLMs can make mistakes while answering simple factual queries\, such as “Who did Ashoka University hire most recently?”\, and can fail spectacularly at complex tasks such as “Write a 2 page document summarizing the history of Ashoka University”. A peek under the hood reveals that these mistakes are often caused by failures of the retrieval model which is responsible for fetching relevant information from the web and private databases. Such retrieval failures can lead to particularly egregious responses when the information required for completing the task at hand is not present in the LLM itself and needs to be fetched from external sources. \nIn this talk\, I will discuss what the architecture and flow might look like for a retrieval platform for large-scale AI workloads that can significantly reduce such retrieval failures and thereby lead to much better LLM responses. I will also discuss how we can build a state-of-the-art generative retrieval model that forms the core of the platform and which can accurately fetch documents in milliseconds in a cost-effective manner. Finally\, I will share some empirical evidence on how such a retrieval model might benefit millions of users around the world. Most parts of my talk should be broadly accessible to a lay audience. \n\nDate: Tuesday\, March 18\, 2025\nTime: 1:30 PM IST\nVenue: AC-02-LR-007 (Takshila Hall)\nFor details: ashoka-cdlds@ashoka.edu.in or call: +91-9136857558\nRegistration Link: https://forms.gle/nB7Q5GbAUWa65zTS6\nZoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99484788648?pwd=DebPIyZIabcJFO0ODEoZlVaW3Bg5I1.1\n\n 
URL:https://www.ashoka.edu.in/event/retrieval-in-the-time-of-reasoning-or-how-to-get-chatgpt-to-do-what-you-want-by-manik-varma/
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T132500
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T150000
DTSTAMP:20250316T233949Z
CREATED:20250316T233949Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T233949Z
UID:75061-1742304300-1742310000@www.ashoka.edu.in
SUMMARY:Environmental Studies Talk
DESCRIPTION:Dear All\, \nThe Department of Environmental Studies invites you to a talk on: \n Date: Tuesday\, 18th March 2025 \nTime: 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM \nVenue: AC04 – 004 \nTitle: Is Jamna Really the Lifeline of Delhi? \nSpeaker: Sohail Hashmi\nThis talk is part of Prof. Mitul Baruah’s course\, The Social Life of Water and is open to all. \nAbstract: This talk is a historical journey to the seven capitals of Delhi that came up over a period of 600 years\, spreading from the west bank of the Jamna to the eastern foothills of the Aravalis\, with a special focus on how they met their water requirements. By paying careful attention to the role of the Jamna in meeting Delhi's water needs\, the talk questions the very notion of the Jamna being the lifeline of Delhi.  \nSpeaker's Bio: Sohail Hashmi is a Dilliwala who was active in the Students' Federation of India (SFI) during his JNU days\, later worked on electronic media with several media houses\, before floating his own media company. He has made several documentary series\, including Pioneers of Women's Education\, Unknown Freedom Fighters\, History of Delhi\, and History of Urdu. Hashmi conducts Heritage Walks in Delhi\, and writes and speaks about food\, water\, environment\, culture\, language and communalism.  \nWe look forward to your presence and an engaging discussion!  \nTea and light refreshments will be served. \n  \nWarm regards\, \nEnvironmental Studies Department
URL:https://www.ashoka.edu.in/event/environmental-studies-talk/
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T133000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T150000
DTSTAMP:20250316T141246Z
CREATED:20250304T065129Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250316T141246Z
UID:74332-1742304600-1742310000@www.ashoka.edu.in
SUMMARY:Retrieval in the Time of Reasoning Or How to Get ChatGPT to Do What You Want - by Manik Varma
DESCRIPTION:  \n\n\n\n\nColloquium announcement\n“Retrieval in the Time of Reasoning\nOr\nHow to Get ChatGPT to Do What You Want”\nby Manik Varma \n \nDistinguished Scientist and Vice President\nMicrosoft Research India \n\nManik Varma is a Distinguished Scientist and Vice President at Microsoft Research India and an Adjunct Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi. He is best known for having started the research area of extreme classification in large-scale machine learning. Manik’s algorithms have made billions of predictions a day\, have generated billions of dollars in revenue for businesses worldwide and have improved the productivity and experience of people in over a hundred and ninety countries. Manik is also known for his research on developing tiny classifiers that can fit within 2–16 KB of RAM and run on microcontrollers smaller than a grain of rice. His classifiers have been deployed on hundreds of millions of devices and have protected them from viruses and malware. Manik has served as an Associate Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis & Machine Intelligence as well as a senior area chair at most of the premiere conferences in machine learning\, artificial intelligence and computer vision. He is a Fellow of the Indian academies of science (IASc\, INSA & NASI)\, the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) and the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). He is a recipient of the Bhatnagar Prize\, has been a Visiting Miller Professor at the University of California at Berkeley and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford. \nAbstract: \nLarge Language Models (LLMs)\, such as GPT4 and O1\, have delivered game-changing reasoning and synthesis capabilities leading pundits to proclaim that we have entered a new age of LLM reasoning. Yet\, LLMs can make mistakes while answering simple factual queries\, such as “Who did Ashoka University hire most recently?”\, and can fail spectacularly at complex tasks such as “Write a 2 page document summarizing the history of Ashoka University”. A peek under the hood reveals that these mistakes are often caused by failures of the retrieval model which is responsible for fetching relevant information from the web and private databases. Such retrieval failures can lead to particularly egregious responses when the information required for completing the task at hand is not present in the LLM itself and needs to be fetched from external sources. \nIn this talk\, I will discuss what the architecture and flow might look like for a retrieval platform for large-scale AI workloads that can significantly reduce such retrieval failures and thereby lead to much better LLM responses. I will also discuss how we can build a state-of-the-art generative retrieval model that forms the core of the platform and which can accurately fetch documents in milliseconds in a cost-effective manner. Finally\, I will share some empirical evidence on how such a retrieval model might benefit millions of users around the world. Most parts of my talk should be broadly accessible to a lay audience. \n\nDate: Tuesday\, March 18\, 2025\nTime: 1:30 PM IST\nVenue: AC-02-LR-007 (Takshila Hall)\nFor details: ashoka-cdlds@ashoka.edu.in\nor call: +91-9136857558\nRegistration Link: https://forms.gle/nB7Q5GbAUWa65zTS6\nZoom link: https://zoom.us/j/99484788648?pwd=DebPIyZIabcJFO0ODEoZlVaW3Bg5I1.1\n\n 
URL:https://www.ashoka.edu.in/event/scdlds-coll01/
LOCATION:AC-02-LR-206-207\, Ashoka University\, Sonipat\, Haryāna\, 131029\, India
CATEGORIES:Online Event,Offline
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ORGANIZER;CN="SCDLDS":MAILTO:ashoka-cdlds@ashoka.edu.in
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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T133000
DTEND;TZID=Asia/Kolkata:20250318T150000
DTSTAMP:20250317T204559Z
CREATED:20250317T024754Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20250317T204559Z
UID:75093-1742304600-1742310000@www.ashoka.edu.in
SUMMARY:Rise and Lead: Exclusive Session on Leadership
DESCRIPTION:Who Should Attend?\nThis event is designed for students who aspire to develop strong leadership skills\, build resilience\, and gain insights into navigating challenges with confidence. Whether you are a budding entrepreneur\, a student leader\, or someone looking to make an impact\, this session will equip you with valuable tools for personal and professional growth. \nWhat You Will Gain:\nLeadership insights from globally recognized thought leaders \nStrategies to develop resilience and self-belief in your personal and professional journey \nOpportunities for networking with like-minded peers and accomplished leaders \nFirsthand knowledge about Aspire Leaders Program (ALP) and how it can shape your future \nAbout the Speakers:\nThe session will be led by Tarun Khanna\, Professor at Harvard University and Co-Founder of Aspire Institute\, alongside Meena Sonea\, CEO of Aspire Institute. \nProf. Tarun Khanna has spent decades researching and teaching about leadership\, innovation\, and entrepreneurship in emerging markets. \nMeena Sonea has been instrumental in shaping leadership programs that empower young people worldwide\, fostering their potential to create meaningful change. \nAbout the Aspire Leaders Program (ALP):\nAspire Leaders Program\, co-founded by Harvard Business School faculty\, is a transformative leadership development initiative that provides fully funded opportunities to first-generation\, low-income college students globally. Through masterclasses\, mentorship\, and financial awards\, ALP has empowered over 200\,000 students across 195+ countries. \nDon’t miss this opportunity to elevate your leadership journey and connect with an inspiring global network!
URL:https://www.ashoka.edu.in/event/rise-and-lead-exclusive-session-on-leadership/
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